The Room of Hidden Love
by HurricaneAlaska
Summary: Takes place in year 6. As Hermione tries to figure out Draco's suspicious behavior she uncovers surprising information about Draco that may change her feelings about him forever.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione looked up from her Ancient Runes textbook as Harry and Ron took their seats across from her in the Great Hall, panting.

"Where have you two been?" she asked impatiently. "Professor McGonagall is just about to hand out course schedules and you two almost missed it."

"We wouldn't want that now would we?" Ron said to Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. Those two were so hopeless.

"Well what have you been up to? You left the common room ages ago."

"We've just been down in the dungeons. We left a little something for Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins to find when they come up to breakfast." Harry said with a smirk on his face.

Hermione looked over to the Slytherin table for the first time and realized that none of the Slytherins had come up for breakfast yet.

She sighed again, "What have you two done? For Godric's sake we're 6th years now. Don't you think it's about time you two stopped playing childish pranks. And Ron, you're a school Prefect. You're supposed to be setting an example. If Professor McGonagall finds out you were involved in any tomfoolery you're going to..."

"Did you hear," Ginny Weasley exclaimed, interrupting Hermione's lecture. "Someone's put a Portable Swamp down in the Dungeons. None of the Slytherins can get out of their common rooms! The whole school is talking about. I hear Snape is furious. He is asking all of the portraits in the dungeons if they've seen anything."

"A Portable Swamp!" Hermione rounded on Ron and Harry once more. "A Portable Swamp. Why? You two are going to lose us house points before term has even started!"

"We'll we had to get Malfoy back for what he did to Harry on the train! You didn't expect us to do nothing did you?"

"Wait, wait, The two of you did that?" Ginny asked impressed. "Wicked. And they're right Hermione, Malfoy deserves far worse than that for what he did to Harry. Lucky Tonks found him really, who knows how long it would have been before someone found him if she hadn't been watching for him."

Hermione considered this. On the one hand, Malfoy was an annoying git and the Portable Swamp was a little funny, but on the other hand she was a school Prefect and so was Ron and neither of them should be involved in something like this.  
>Before she had time to contemplate telling Professor McGonagall who was behind the swamp the doors of the Great Hall burst open and Snape walked in, his cloak billowing behind him. He was headed straight for the Gryffindor table with a murderous look in his eyes.<p>

"Potter, Weasley, a word if you please." Snape barked, then promptly turned on his heel and walked back out of the Great Hall.

Hermione shot them an "I told you so" look as they slowly got up and followed Snape out of the Great Hall.

Ginny and Hermione were discussing how much trouble Harry and Ron would be in when the doors to the Great Hall opened once more, A group of angry Slytherins walking in dripping water from every inch of their bodies. Slowly more and more drenched Slytherins made their way into the Great Hall. No matter how much Hermione disapproved of the prank, she couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else at the sight of the Slytherin table. After a few minutes the room settled down once more and everyone went back to breakfast. The heads of houses, minus Snape who was still off somewhere lecturing Harry and Ron, had begun to pass out course schedules when the doors to the Great Hall opened a third time. Expecting to see Harry and Ron Hermione turned around ready to tell them off, only to see Draco Malfoy, robes completely dry, walk over to Slytherin table.

She turned to Ginny, "Hey, look at Malfoy, Why do you suppose he's dry when everyone else is wet?"

"Dunno, probably went and dried himself off I suppose." Ginny replied distractedly as she poured over the course schedule McGonagall had just handed her.

If he had gone to dry himself off why did he seem so surprised that everyone else was wet. She could see Crabbe and Goyle gesturing wildly and distinctly heard Goyle say "There was water everywhere, looked like the Portable Swamp the Weasel twins used last year before they took off."

If Draco didn't know about the swamp that means he wasn't in the Slytherin dorms and he definietly hadn't been in the Great Hall, she would have noticed. So where was he and why had he been out of bed so early?

Just then Harry and Ron came back in grinning when they caught sight of the Slytherin table. They sat down at the table and Hermione was just about to tell them her suspicions about Malfoy when McGonagall came over and handed the three of them their course schedules.

"Potter, Weasley, I've taken the liberty of placing you in Professor Slughorn's Advanced Potions class as he only requires an exceeds expectations on the O.W.L.s. I'm sure Professor Slughorn will be more than glad to lend the both of you some supplies seeing as you did not have time to buy your own." With that she walked away to pass out the rest of the course schedules.

"Well that's lucky isn't it" Hermione said. "Now you don't have so many pesky free periods. Well I'm off to Ancient Runes."

In all the excitement of seeing her course schedule she had completely forgotten about the mysteriously dry Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm trying to stick as close as possible to the book, but I have changed some things to make it work for my story. Also I wrote this chapter in Draco's POV. I'm thinking about switching between the two POVs for each chapter. Let me know if you guys like that or if it is just annoying. Anyway, enjoy.**

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><p>Draco woke early on the first day of term oddly content with himself. The image of Potter lying on the floor of the train covered in blood kept flitting into his mind. He chuckled to himself as he got out of bed. It was too damn bad that Potter had somehow managed to get off the train before it left the station. How Saint Potter managed to get out of these scrapes Draco would never know.<p>

He quietly dressed in his brand new Slytherin robes thinking how much easier his mission would be if Potter had been out of the way. He took one last look at the dark mark on his left arm before pulling on his cloak. Yes, the Dark Lord would have been so pleased with him had he managed to keep Potter away this term.

He left the Common Room quietly, trying not to wake his fellow Slytherins. He pulled his cloak tighter as he walk through the chilly halls of the dungeons. The halls of Hogwarts were eerie at this time of the morning. The rest of the school was still sleeping, and Draco bitterly wished he was still sleeping too. But he had work to do. The Dark Lord would kill him and his family if he did not succeed by the end of the school year.

This was all Saint Potter's fault. If he hadn't turned in Draco's father none of this would've ever happened. Draco would be enjoying his sixth year at Hogwarts and abusing his Prefect duties. Instead he had been forced to join the Death Eaters, when he wasn't even sure if that is what he wanted. He definitely hated Mudbloods, especially that Granger. He couldn't stand Dumbledore or any of his followers, but if he had it his way, he would have stayed neutral during this whole war and lived off of his father's glory.

Before he knew it, he had reached the seventh floor and was facing the wall across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. He hated that he had only found the Room of Requirements due to Potter and his idiot admirers last year, but it did come in quiet useful for his little project.

He paced in front of the wall three times thinking about the Room of Hidden Things. He navigated through the junk piled in the room until he came upon what he was looking for: The Vanishing Cabinet. There was a matching one in Borgin and Burkes shop in Knockturn Alley. Draco's job was to repair the vanishing cabinet so the Death Eaters can infiltrate Hogwarts. The other half of his job would be a lot harder. He shuddered when he thought of the mission he had been assigned.

The two hours he had allowed himself before breakfast passed quickly. He hurried out of the Room of Requirements and down the many flights of stairs to the Great Hall trying to come up with a story for why he was late if any of the other Slytherins, or that nosy git Potter, asked him.

When he walked into the Great Hall his eyes automatically flicked to the Gryffindor table in search of Gryffindor's perfect Golden Trio. God they made him sick. He didn't know why everyone worshipped those three imbeciles. He was ten times smarter than Potter and the Weasel. Granger on the other hand had him beat in academics. As much as he hated to admit it, the mudblood was smart. Although he was sure she only tried so hard because she was trying to prove herself as a wizard, probably why she was always throwing herself at that pureblood weasel too, hoping to marry him to get rid of her god awful muggle name.

His eyes found Granger, staring back at him with an inquisitive look on her face. He didn't see the Weasel or Potter anywhere though; the two must have come to their senses and stopped hanging out with the mudblood.

He sat down at the Slytherin table in his usual spot between Crabbe and Goyle. It took him a minute to notice they were both dripping water all over the table.

"Why are you two all wet?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. His two friends might be good for muscle but not much else. Then his eyes roamed up and down the rest of the Slytherin table. "What the fuck happened to all of you?"

"Um , well, when we tried to leave the common room this morning there was water everywhere, looked like the Portable Swamp the Weasel twins used last year before they took off." Goyle finally replied. "We had to swim through the dungeons to get up here."

"How the hell did you manage to stay so dry Draco?" Blaise Zabini asked, coming over to their end of the table.

"Yeah" said Crabbe slowly realizing that Draco's clothes weren't damp in the least. "Why weren't you in the dormitory this morning when we got up?"

"Well, I, uh, I had to go see Dumbledore, official Prefect business and all." Draco exclaimed quickly. "Oh, look here comes Snape" he said trying to distract the three boys from what they had been talking about.

Snape had just entered the room followed closely by Potter and Weasley. Draco wondered what the two of them were doing with Snape.

"Hey Blaise, what's Professor Snape doing with Potter?"

"Oh, you didn't hear, Snape went ballistic when he saw the swamps and found out from one of the portraits that Potter and Weasley had snuck down to the dungeons. They let out the Portable Swamp."

"Saint Potter probably just got away with a detention, as usual." Draco snarled.

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><p>Later that afternoon, Draco headed down to the dungeons for Advanced Potions. He wasn't looking forward to his favorite class as much as usual now that this new professor, Slughorn, had taken over the class. Professor Snape had finally been promoted to the Defense against the Dark Arts post.<p>

He groaned when he reached the classroom. It was full of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Only four other Slytherins were in the room. Draco walked over to the table Blaise was sitting at and set his bag down on the table. He had just settled into his sit when The Golden Trio walked through the door. Draco groaned even louder.

"Fuck, I was hoping to be rid of them this year." He said in an undertone to Zabini. Draco had already had to put up with the trio in Defense against the Dark Arts. At least Potter had gotten that detention for being smart with Professor Snape. There was no way Potter would be the golden boy of Defense against the Dark Arts this year, and he was a dolt when it came to potions.

"I'm surprised Potter and Weasley even made it in." his fellow Slytherin replied.

Before Draco had a chance to reply, Professor Slughorn called the class to order.

"Since it's the first day of lessons, I thought I'd start the term off with something fun. Okay, I'm going to call roll and place you in groups of two alphabetically. This will be your partner for the remainder of the term. When I call your name, come forward and collect the ingredients you will need for the potion, you will have the rest of the period to complete it."

"Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones"

"Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy"

Two sets of groans followed the announcement of this pair. The Gryffindor and the Slytherin slowly got up, with matching looks of disgust on their faces and collected the ingredients for their potion. Both were thinking that it was going to be a long term.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione sat down next to Draco, silently organizing their supplies. He hadn't spoken a word to her since their names had been called five minutes earlier, and Hermione had no intentions of being the first to break the silence. She opened her potions book to the bit about Amortentia and quickly scanned the page, double checking that they had all of the supplies needed to make the potion. Once she was satisfied that everything was there, she fiddled with the supplies again – reorganizing them in the order they would be used.

She looked at Malfoy out of the corner of her eye, he hadn't moved since they sat down and was staring at the table. He looked like he was in deep thought about something else and could care less about this class or her; however the silence between them was beginning to make her nervous. She had no idea what to say to him and she wasn't sure if she should start making the potion without his help.

_Okay, I have to do something._ _I'll just start on the potion; Malfoy doesn't care about this kind of stuff anyway right?_

She reached over her cauldron to check her textbook once more and the sleeve of her cloak caught a phial of Wormwood Essence, knocking it off the table and into Malfoy's lap.

"Watch what you're doing mudblood" Malfoy yelled as he jumped up from the table. "These are brand new robes!" He pointed his wand at her.

"Don't call her a mudblood ferret" Ron yelled from across the room, his wand drawn ready to defend his friend.

"Stay out of this weasel." He turned to Hermione "When are you going to start fighting your own battles, Granger."

"That's enough." Slughorn shouted. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley please return to your seats and continue with your potions please. I don't want to give anyone detention on the first day of term.

Draco sat back down, crossed his arms and looked at Hermione. "Well, let's get on with this, then." He said gesturing towards her cauldron.

"I – I'm sorry. You know, about the wormwood I mean."

Malfoy kept staring at her.

"I can clean up your robes for you…if you want." She said nervously. Using the end of her robe sleeve, she began slowly wiping the area on his robes, hoping to dry it.

"What are you doing, Granger?" Draco exclaimed squirming uncomfortably in his seat. "Are you a bloody witch or not?"

"O-oh right. Of course. What was I thinking?" she murmured half to herself. She was just so embarrassed by Draco's observation about her. He was right. She never really stood up for herself. She had always just stood by and let Harry and Ron take care of things. Except during third year when she decked Malfoy. And boy had that felt good. Really good she thought as she remembered how empowered she had felt afterwards.

She pointed her wand to the spot on his robes and muttered "_Evenesco"_ She watched as the wet spot on Draco's lap slowly dried up and no evidence of her clumsiness remained.

"I hope you don't think being nice to me is going to make me hate you less." Draco growled.

Hermione's breath caught. She had always known Malfoy disliked her because she was muggleborn, but she never thought he hated her. A part of her always hoped there was some good in him. That deep down, he really didn't believe all of the lies his parents had taught him. She didn't know why, but this revelation made her angry.

"Let's just make the damn potion" Hermione retorted. They spent the rest of the lesson in agonizing silence.

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><p>Draco sat next to Hermione with a sour expression on his face. He'd rather be working on Voldemort's assignment for him than wasting time making a stupid love potion with Granger. He still had to work out a few kinks in his plan. He thought wistfully of being in the seclusion of the Room of Requirements where he could work it all out in peace. But no, he was stuck in this stupid partnership with the mudblood for the rest of the fucking term. God, he wished Snape was still teaching this class. He actually used to like potions, but he could tell class with Slughorn was going to be supremely unpleasant.<p>

He looked over at Granger out of the corner of his eye and saw her fidgeting with the potion supplies. He was in no hurry to make the Amortentia potion. He didn't want Granger to find out what it smelled like to him, he wasn't sure he knew himself what they would be. But Slughorn wanted them to include that in the essay he set for them. So it was inevitable that Granger would find out these intimate details about him and that made him uncomfortable and when he was uncomfortable his guard went up.

God, he wished she would stop messing with the potion supplies. It was bloody annoying. He saw Granger look over at him out of the corner of her eye, for a moment it looked like she was going to say something, then she turned back to her cauldron and leaned over it reaching for her book.

Then next instant he was covered with wormwood essence.

The mixture of surprise and discomfort he felt made him blow up. He was out of his seat and yelling at Granger, wand drawn, before he could even blink. And then Weasley had to go and get involved. Why wouldn't Weasley and Potter just let Hermione stand up for herself for once? Was she that bloody cowardly? She was a Gryffindor after all, where was the bravado?

He wanted Granger to respond, wanted her to stop staring at him with frightened eyes. He wasn't that scary was he? He wasn't really planning to use his wand. Did she think he was? He slowly lowered the wand but kept his eye contact with Granger.

Slughorn interrupted his thoughts, telling him to sit down or get detention. He righted his overturned chair and sat down.

"Well, let's get on with this, then." He said gesturing towards her cauldron.

"I – I'm sorry. You know, about the wormwood I mean." Hermione stammered.

Her apology stunned him. He didn't expect an apology - a sarcastic comment or rude gesture maybe, but not an apology. He just stared at her unsure of what to say.

She nervously licked her lips, then offered to clean up the mess. She reached down and started rubbing his lap with her robe sleeve. He stiffened immediately as he felt himself getting hard. Goddammit was he getting aroused by Granger?

"What are you doing, Granger?" he exclaimed squirming uncomfortably in his seat, hoping Granger didn't notice his semi. "Are you a bloody witch or not?"

He watched as she turned bright pink and muttered to herself. Then she said "_evenesco"_ and the spot slowly dried.

Before he knew what was happening he said "I hope you don't think being nice to me is going to make me hate you less."

Her only response was a strained "Let's just make the damn potion."

He didn't know why he said he hated her. Sure she was a mudblood and she hung out with Saint Potter and the Weasel but she had never really done anything to make him hate her, hell he even sort of deserved the punch he received from her.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Where the fuck were these thoughts coming from? His head was clearly still fogged from his arousal. But that didn't mean he liked Granger. He would have reacted that way if any girl had done what she did. It was a purely male instinct. He couldn't control what his penis did anymore than he could control the weather. Of course he hated Hermione, she was a fucking mudblood after all.

_Mudblood's are dirty and don't deserve to have magic. _He had heard his father say that sentence for as long as he could remember. Of course his father was right, why should a muggle get to study magic?

He looks over at the frizzy haired girl sitting next to him. She was painstakingly measuring out ingredients for their potion. He thought back to all of the lessons they had shared together over the years, how she always knew the correct answers and how she always got the highest marks out of everyone in the year. He didn't know what to think about that.

Hermione spent the rest of the lesson diligently working on the potion and making neat, precise notes about the process.

Draco spent the rest of the lesson trying to forget that she existed.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry I left you guys hanging for so long. I went to Europe for the summer and when I got back I was busy with school starting and everything. I'll**** try to update more frequently in the future. **


	4. Chapter 4

"10 minutes until the end of lesson." Slughorn announced.

Hermione looked up from the parchment she had be furiously writing on for the past 20 minutes. She wanted to get down every detail of the potion-making process and the scents she smelled. Of course they would not be able to try out their potions on anyone, Slughorn just assigned them this potion as a fun beginning of term assignment but they did have to write an essay comparing what they smell to what their partners smell. She hoped Draco was taking notes for his part of the essay. She didn't dare look over at him though. Not after the hurtful things he had said to her.

After Slughorn's announcement she stopped writing and began to clean up the mess from her potion. When everything was tidy once more she knew she could no longer avoid Draco. She would need his part of the essay for comparison. She turned to ask him for his notes only to find that he had vanished.

"Make sure you have your essays to turn in by next lesson. See you all later." Slughorn says, signalling the end of the lesson.

Ten chairs scrape the ground in unison as the students all gather their bags and leave the room. Hermione hurriedly stuffs her book and parchment back into her bag as Ron and Harry make their way over to her table.

"I can't believe you got partnered with that prat" Ron says, approaching the table. "And where did he get off to in such a hurry?"

"I don't know" Hermione barked. "It's not like we chatted all during the lesson. He didn't even help me with the damn potion. Just sat there muttering to himself about being close. He's an odd one, Malfoy is. And I don't even know what the potion smelled like to him. How am I going to write my essay if I don't know his part. He's just an inconsiderate jerk."

"Calm down, Hermione. Why don't you just ask him at dinner?" Harry replied calmly as they walked out of the classroom. "Ron and I've got free period next, how about you?"

"I've got Muggle Studies. Are you two going to go write your essays?" She asked in a motherly tone. "I know how the two of you like to put off your homework until the last second and then expect me to do it for you. That's not happening this year. We're almost N.E.W.T students after all, and I can't sit your N.E.W.T exams for you, you know."

"Actually, we're heading down to the Quidditch pitch. Harry's captain this year and I'm trying out for the keeper position. Harry's going to help me get some practice in before tryouts." Hermione rolled her eyes. Of course they were going to do something impractical instead of spending their free time getting ahead with their schoolwork.

"Fine, but remember what I said, I'm not helping you when you get behind on your work, and you will get behind." She turned on her heel, leaving the two boys at the entrance hall and climbed the stairs to her Muggle Studies class.

By dinner she had completely forgotten about the horrible Potions lesson. Her Muggle Studies lesson was the most interesting one she'd had all day. Professor Burbage had assigned a mountain of reading and Hermione could barely wait to get back to the common room after dinner to dive into it.

She walked into the Great Hall, her eyes scanning the Gryffindor table looking for Harry and Ron. Not finding them, her eyes settled on Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas. She sighed, not sure if she wanted to deal with their lovey dovey nonsense right now. Deciding it was better than sitting alone, she walked over and sat across from the two lovebirds.

"Hey Hermione" Ginny said looking up from her dinner. She smiled up at Hermione, genuinely happy to see the older Gryffindor. "How was your first day back?"

"Wonderful, I just love the start of term. All of the lessons this year are just going to be amazing." Hermione said breathlessly. "Well, almost all of them" she added, suddenly remembering her Potions lesson earlier that day.

She turned and scanned the Slytherin table on the other side of the room looking for Malfoy. She searched up and down the table twice, just in case she missed him, but he definitely wasn't there. It was weird for Malfoy to miss a meal, not because he enjoyed the food, but because he enjoyed any opportunity to bash on anyone he deemed beneath him.

"Earth to Hermione." she turned around and gave her attention back to Ginny.

"Sorry, what did you say?" she asked sheepishly, embarrassed that she was so caught up in looking for Malfoy.

"I said Harry and Ron filled us in on what happened in Potions when we were down at the Quidditch pitch before dinner." Ginny replied patiently. She was staring at Hermione with a look of pity in her eyes. "Do you want me to cast a Bat Bogey Hex on Malfoy for you?"

Hermione smiled at the mental image of Draco caught in one of Ginny's infamous Bat Bogey Hexes. It would be satisfying but her smile slowly faded when she remembered the comment he made about her never fighting her own battles.

"As amusing as that would be, I think I'll handle this on my own."

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><p>"I need a place to work on the vanishing cabinet." Draco walked passed the wall opposite Barnabus the Barmy 3 times repeating what he desired. A door appeared in the previously blank wall and Draco, looking around to make sure he wasn't seen, quickly disappeared inside the door.<p>

The inside of the room was filled with everything that had ever been lost or hidden at Hogwarts. The piles of old chairs, desks, and bird cages were piled all the way up to the ceiling. The haphazard piles teetered dangerously, like they would fall at the slightest touch.

Draco began picking his way through the piles of discarded junk and eventually began to wind his way through the mess towards the back of the room. When he came across an innocent looking cabinet he stopped, recalling the orders given to him by Lord Voldemort a few weeks earlier.

"_Draco" Lucius Malfoy called for his son from the dining room where the latest Death Eater meeting was taking place. "Come."_

_Draco stood up from his place on the couch in the adjacent room, shaking slightly. His father never allowed him to come in during the Death Eater meetings. He slowly walked into the room, careful not to meet the eyes of his father. Instead he made eye contact with Severus Snape, his favorite professor and head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts. The look on Snape's face did little to comfort Draco, in fact the look of horror on his favorite professor's face made Draco's anxiety grow to full out terror. _

"_Young Draco, come face your Lord." The quiet voice came from the shadowed head of the table. _

_Draco slowly made his way to the front of the room. He pulled his shoulders back and held his head high as he passed by the parents of his fellow Slytherins ._ _He wouldn't allow anyone to see that he was afraid. He had too much pride for that. _

_However, his false confidence came to an abrupt halt once he reach the head of the table. He couldn't bring himself to look into the red eyes of the Dark Lord. _

"_I have two important tasks for you Draco. If you fail me, you're life and the lives of those closest to you will be in peril." The Dark Lord informed him in a soft, calm voice. _

_Draco lick his lips nervously._

"_First I need you to find a way to get the death eaters into Hogwarts. It will be essential that the rest of the staff are busy and distracted so that you may complete the second part of your task."_

_Draco's mind flicked back to the previous year when he found Montague stuck in the U-bend of the toliets. Montague told him about the cabinet he was stuffed in and how he could hear what was going on in Hogwarts but he could also hear what was going on in Borgin and Burkes. When he showed Draco the cabinet he thought it looked familiar but couldn't place it. Then at the beginning of summer Draco accompanied his father to Borgin and Burkes and saw a cabinet that looked just like the one at Hogwarts. It didn't take much to put two and two together and figure out what the cabinets did._

"_I think I know how to get them in" he murmured half to himself. _

"_Good, Good." Voldemort sneered rubbing his hands together. "Now the second part of your task is the most important and it is essential in order for me to take over the wizarding world and kill Harry Potter."_

_Draco saw a look of pride cross his father's face and was suddenly determined that he would complete whatever tasks Voldemort gave him. It wasn't often that his father had reason to be proud of him but now the Dark Lord himself was giving Draco the ultimate task. If he could get the Death Eaters into Hogwarts he would become a legend and his father would surely be proud of him then._

"_Your second task" Voldemort began, a creepy smile plastered on his face "is to kill Albus Dumbledore._

Draco trembled at the memory of the day he became a Death Eater. He couldn't even bring himself to think about the second task he had been chosen to do. So he pushed it to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand.

He sat down cross-legged in front of the vanishing cabinet pondering ways he could fix it.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Bet you guys gave up on me didn't you. Well I don't blame you. I did promise to upload faster and this clearly was not fast. My apologies. I hope you enjoy it.**

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><p>Hermione sat in the library working on her Potions essay and periodically checking the time with a frustrated glance at the clock. Harry and Ron were supposed to meet her here 20 minutes ago. They were never around anymore when she needed them, or even when she just wanted to hang out. They were either at the Quidditch pitch or mysteriously missing in action. She knew Harry was spending a lot of extra time in Dumbledore's office doing some special assignment, and she had no idea where Ron was spending his time but it certainly wasn't with her.<p>

She pushed her parchment away, unable to concentrate any longer. She was worried about her friendship with Ron, she got the feeling that he had been avoiding her since term started, but she didn't know why.

As she looked up at the clock for the fourth time in 10 minutes she caught a glimpse of ginger hair headed into the stacks.

"Ginny!" she whispered loud enough for her friend to hear but quiet enough not to incur the wrath of Madame Pince.

The ginger-haired girl turned at the sound of her name and Hermione motioned for her to come over. She made her way over to the table where Hermione sat.

"Hey Hermione," Ginny greeted as she slung her bag onto the table. "I was just going to work on my Herbology essay. Where are Harry and Ron?

"That's what I was going to ask you. They were supposed to meet me a half hour ago I thought maybe Quidditch practice ran late or something?" Hermione had hoped her two best friends hadn't just forgotten about her but from the look on the present Weasley's face it seems they had.

"Oh, actually Harry cut practice short. He said something about going to see Professor Dumbledore. Practice has been over for about an hour." Ginny looked sheepishly. "I think I saw Ron headed to the astronomy tower after we left practice."

Hermione knew a look of hurt must have shown in her eyes at the news that her best friends had forgotten her but she didn't care.

"Can I ask you something Ginny?"

"Of course, anything."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Has Ron said anything about me to you? I get the feeling he has been ignoring me lately."

"It's probably just because he likes you." Ginny clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh bloody hell, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Ron should know I can't keep a secret."

"Really? He likes me too?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"He's liked you since fourth year. He wanted to ask you to the Yule Ball, you know. But he's an idiot and doesn't know how to express his feelings. And I think since Harry hasn't been around as much he's afraid to be around you alone. I'm sure that's why he has been ignoring you."

Hermione couldn't stop smiling. She'd liked Ron since fourth year as well but he had never acted like he liked her back.

"Look, I really need to go work on my Herbology, are you okay now?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm great. Thanks Gin."

Hermione started gathering her parchment and books as her friend got up and left the table. There was no point in sitting in the library when she couldn't focus on her work. She decided to confront Ron so she headed towards the Astronomy tower.

Her stomach was twisted with nerves by the time she approached the stairs leading up to the tower. She'd nearly turned back four times on the way up here. Even with the knowledge that Ron liked her she was still afraid that he would laugh at her for expressing her feelings.

When she reached the top of the staircase the sight she saw brought tears to her eyes. Ron was snogging Lavender Brown. Hermione couldn't believe her eyes. She let out a strangled cry and ran back down the steps before Ron saw her and she humiliated herself further.

She ran as fast as she could away from the astronomy tower not paying attention to where she was going and eventually ran right into someone.

"Oh sorry" She muttered.

"Watch where you're going, Mudblood." He sneered.

Hermione looked up and into the gray eyes of Draco Malfoy. At least she thought it was Malfoy. He looked terrible though, his skin had taken on a gray pallor and he looked frailer than he had when she saw him earlier in the week.

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked. She finally looked around and realized that they were in the seventh floor corridor near the Room of Requirements. "...And what are you doing up here?"

"I could ask the same of you, if I cared enough to." He was right, it was clear that something was wrong with Hermione, tear tracks were streaked down her face.

"Well you obviously do care enough, since you bothered to say that." Hermione said smugly. She was pleased with her brazenness and it felt good to bring that look of surprise to Malfoy's face.

"Well, well, well what is this? Granger finally got some guts. What's the matter, Potter and Weasley too busy to fight your battles for you? Or did they finally come to their senses and realize that you're just a filthy mudblood who spends too much time with her nose in a book?"

The mention of Ron's name brought fresh tears to Hermione's eyes and with one last scathing look in his direction.

"Piss off Malfoy" she said as she turned on her heel and ran straight back to the common room.

* * *

><p>Draco watched the mudblood run away crying, then started walking back to the Slytherin common room, whistling. There was something about arguing with Granger that really got his blood pumping - he couldn't get enough of the feeling, but there was something not quite right with the way he was feeling after this encounter. He did have to admit that deep, deep, deep down he felt a little bad about making her cry.<p>

He stopped whistling at that last thought. He didn't know where that came from. He had never allowed himself to feel any sympathy for a mudblood before. God, this task Voldemort assigned him must be draining him more than he thought. That's the only explanation he could muster for how he was feeling about Granger at the moment. He had to do something about this, he couldn't possibly start feeling sorry for Granger, of all people. It would be the same as becoming best mates with Potter.

He changed his route and headed for Snape's office. He decided that he had just been spending too much time around Granger since they had become partners in Potions. He reached the professor's door and knocked briskly.

"Come in" Snape drawled. Draco opened the door and stepped into the room. "Good, Draco. I needed to to speak with you. Sit down."

Draco sat down gingerly in an old wooden chair that looked like it wouldn't hold up a feather. He slowly settled all of his weight on the chair and, once he was sure that the chair would hold him, slowly relaxed.

"How is your assignment for Lord Voldemort coming? You have to take this seriously Draco, a lot of lives are at stake if you fail. You must not fail."

Draco looked down at his shoes. He knew how much was at stake. Not only the lives of him and his family, but his mother told him that Snape performed the Unbreakable Vow and had to complete the task should he fail. The whole business made him uncomfortable. He didn't really want to be involved in any of it, but he wanted to win his fathers approval more than anything.

"Well, that's sort of why I'm here professor," Draco started "I was wondering if you could get me out of my potions lessons? I could really use the extra time to work on the Vanishing Cabinet and you know I'm a natural at potions anyway. I could easily keep up with the class without going. And it would just be for a few weeks - a month tops."

Snape was silent for a few minutes, pondering the request. "Well, I supposed it wouldn't hurt anything, you were always my best Potions student, I'll talk to Professor Slughorn about it tomorrow.

"Thank you Professor" Draco said happily as he left the office, whistling once more.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione managed to make it back to the common room without seeing anyone. When she reached the portrait of the fat lady she took a deep breath trying to compose herself. She didn't want anyone to see her crying because that led to questions, and she was too mortified to tell anyone what she had seen. She was stupid for thinking that Ron would ever like her. She suddenly remembered what made her go look for Ron and felt a pang of betrayal when she remembered the conversation she had with Ginny back in the library. Ginny was supposed to be her friend, why would she lie? This revelation brought fresh tears to her eyes. She rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her robe and readied herself to enter the common room. She was just about to relay the password to the fat lady when she heard a high pitched giggle from around the corner immediately followed by a female voice saying "Stop tickling me."

Hermione went rigid. She knew that voice, she looked around for a place to hid. She didn't want Ginny to see her looking like this. Before she had time to formulate a plan Harry and Ginny walked around the corner, holding hands.

"Ginny why are you with Harry?" Hermione stared at the pair with her mouth open. "What about Dean?"

"Hermione what's wrong." Harry interrupted. "Why've you been crying?"

"I thought you were going up to talk to Ron?"

"Ron? Oh no...you didn't see..?" Harry asked with a panicked look on his face.

Hermione nodded once and burst into fresh tears.

Ginny looked between the two, confused. "What did I miss?"

"Ron made it.. quite clear that he didn't want me by...by snogging Lavender on the Astronomy tower." Hermione said in between sob.

Harry came over and hugged her. Apparently she didn't need to say anything more to him. It was apparent by the soothing words he was whispering to her that he already knew about Ron and Lavender.

"How long?" she asked him, sniffling.

"Since the second week of term. She started showing up to Quidditch tryouts and telling him how wonderful he was at it. And then he made the team – and one thing led to another. If you want my opinion, I don't think he's serious about her. He still talks about you all the time. And he didn't want you to find out about it. He's been terrified of how you would react when you found out."

He relayed the password to the fat lady and led Hermione into the common room. Luckily it was almost empty. He steered her to a chair by the fire and sat her down, then he and Ginny sat on either side of her offering soothing words and comfort.

She stared into space for quite a long time. People came in and out of the common room and she knew they stared at her. And who wouldn't? She had tears streaming down her face, and her eyes were red and puffy.

She suddenly stood up and declared that she needed to be alone. She climbed back out of the portrait hole and wandered aimlessly around the castle. What she needed was something to take her mind off of Ron and Lavender. She thought about studying, but found she had no desire for that.

She passed a pair of third years who were talking about Harry and Ron's prank at the beginning of term and wondering what the Slytherins were going to do to retaliate. She suddenly remember seeing Malfoy, completely dry coming into the Great Hall after the rest of the Slytherins. She thought about how pallid he was looking lately, and how distracted he seemed in Potions. There was definitely something going on with him.

She ran back to Gryffindor tower.

"Harry..." She panted, out of breath from the run, "Could I borrow your Marauders Map and your Invisibility cloak?"

"Um, sure?" Hermione followed him up to his dormitory. He rummaged through his trunk and pulled out the map and the cloak. "What are you going to do with these?"

"Oh uh, I need in the restricted section of the library." She grabbed them and hurried out of the room before Harry could ask anymore questions. She didn't want him to know that she was going to follow Draco Malfoy. He wouldn't approve of her doing it alone, and she didn't want Ron and Harry tagging along.

She climbed out of the portrait hole and found an empty classroom. She tapped the map and whispered "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

She watched the entirety of Hogwarts Castle appear on the old, faded parchment. Her eyes went first to the Slytherin common room. She didn't see Draco's name there. She checked the library, the Great Hall, and the grounds. He wasn't there either. She was checking the Dungeons, when she noticed two names in Snape's office. One was Professor Snape himself, and the other was Draco Malfoy.

She tapped the map again, whispered "Mischief Mangaed" and stuffed the map into her bag. She pulled on the cloak and hurried down to the dungeon and hid near Snape's office, wishing she had some of Fred and George's extendable ears. The door suddenly opened and she pressed herself flat against the wall before remembering that she was invisible.

"Thanks Professor" She heard Draco call to Snape, then he walked down the corridor whistling.  
>She followed him up to the seventh floor across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. He paced three times in front of the tapestry until a door appear where there was once a solid wall. He checked to see that no one as around before entering the room. Hermione quickly followed before the door closed back up.<p>

The room of requirement looked completely different now than it did the previous year when they had been using it for secret meetings of Dumbledore's Army. The entire room was filled with discarded junk stacked as high as the walls. She followed Malfoy down a narrow pathway to the back of the room where a large cabinet sat.

* * *

><p>Draco muttered to himself as he tinkered with the vanishing cabinet. He had to get this right. He had to save his family from Lord Voldemort. His hands shook as he took an apple out of his bag and placed it into the cabinet shutting the door. He reopened the cabinet and found that the apple was gone.<p>

"It worked." He mumbled, quite pleased with himself.

"What are you doing with that cabinet Malfoy?" Hermione asked from behind him.

She had taken off the cloak and stuffed it into her bag while he had been fiddling with the cabinet. She walked closer to the cabinet and noticed the apple was missing.

"Where did that apple go?"

"H-how did you get in here?" Draco asked, backing away from the cabinet. "I put enchantments on the room preventing anyone from coming in."

"Well I am the brightest witch of our age." Hermione said smugly.

"You tell me how you got in here or I'll - I'll..."

"You'll what?" Hermione replied as she pulled out her wand. "You'll hex me? Or are you going to perform an unforgivable curse on me? Well, which one is it?"

Draco stood there stunned for quite some time. He couldn't believe this was Granger? What had gotten into her? And why did he like it so much? She was kind of...sexy. He shuttered at that thought. Mudbloods were not supposed to be sexy.

"What's gotten into you Granger?"

"What's gotten into me? You want to know what's gotten into me. My friends have all been ignoring me for Quidditch practice. I just found out that Harry is dating Ginny, so they really have no time for me. Ron is off snogging some whore in the astronomy tower all night when he was supposed to like me. And I'm stuck with you as potions partner all term." Hermione was practically screaming by the end of the revelation and sometime during her speech she had moved so she was standing right in front of him.

She hadn't meant to tell Draco all of this and she now that she had she felt like an idiot.

He just stared at her, not sure if now was the right time to make another mudblood reference. She seemed a bit unhinged at the moment, like she might actually use the wand she still had in her hand. Her face was all red and blotchy from when she had been crying, her hair seemed to have grown to twice it's size and she was looking up at him with a murderous look in her eyes.

But for some reason, these things that he would normally have made fun of her for seemed endearing. He had never been this close to her before, and he didn't know how good she smelled, like lavender and mint, or how brown her eyes were and before he knew what was happening his lips were on hers and they were softer than he ever would have imagined. His hands grabbed her hair as he turned and pressed her body up against the vanishing cabinet. The kiss deepened and he seemed to have lost himself in her.

A small moan escaped from Hermione's lips and sent a shiver through Draco. Then as suddenly as he had started the kiss, he stopped it.

"What the hell are you doing?" He backed away from Hermione and fled from the room before she had a chance to remind him that he was the one who had started the kiss.

She licked her lips. Still unable to believe that she had just been snogging Draco Malfoy. One minute she was staring at him waiting for him to make fun of the fact that her friends had basically abandoned her and the next minute he was kissing her. She didn't want to admit it to herself but Draco was actually a really good kisser.

Frustrated and confused, she hit her fist on the door of the cabinet. The door popped open from the force and she saw the shiny green apple sitting at the bottom of the cabinet. She picked it up and noticed a bite had been taken out of it. There was also an unsigned note that read:

"Good work Draco, the Dark Lord will be proud."


End file.
